Barely had we begun to come to terms with the staggering greed and cavalier incompe- tence of our bankers when the political expenses scandal broke upon an astonished and increasingly angry country. It‘s not my purpose here to bash the bankers and politicians - others are fulfilling that task with some relish. Rather, I mention them as the most egre- gious examples of a more-general malaise, in which too many of those with high public responsibilities corrupt the purposes of whichever enterprise they run to their own advan- tage and to the disadvantage of their members, shareholders, or the public at large. Nor is the Church free of it - as can be witnessed from those absurd deposed in the United States who, having fallen out with the Episcopal Church, have aligned themselves elsewhere and attempted to take the titles, dioceses and assets with them. ―L‘état, c‘est moi,‖ indeed. Don‘t laugh - the same nonsense is on its way to this country.

In Darwin‘s bicentennial year, there seems to me precious little evidence of humanity evolving into anything better or higher. On the contrary, the evidence tends to suggest that, in our post-Christian society, having abandoned the restraining influence of a devel- oped moral code, humanity is tending to revert to an ancient instinct for personal survival. Survival, not so much of the fittest, as of the shameless, the greedy, the wicked. Darwin- ian it may be, but it‘s scarcely encouraging for the future of our race.

Jesus‘ Parable of the Unjust Steward (Luke 16.1-12) demonstrates how little has changed in two millennia. The steward, having been caught with his fingers in the till, con- spires with his employer‘s debtors to defraud him further - and is applauded for his shrewdness. But note the conclusion Jesus draws: ―If you have not proved trustworthy with the wealth of this world, then who will trust you with wealth that is real?‖

Stewardship, personal and corporate, is one of the central themes of the Gospel. Jesus (and Paul, interpreting him) returns again and again to the principle of personal responsi- bility for our use of the gifts that God has showered upon us. In Matthew‘s Gospel (Ch.25) the Parable of the Talents, focussing upon good stewardship of great riches, is followed immediately by the Last Judgement, in which eternal life is granted to those who employ their talents in the service of others, while the selfish are consigned to eternal fire. A warning from ―OfHell‖ might just resonate more with our modern unjust stewards than any number of ineffectual secular regulators, but better far to emphasise the upside of good stewardship: ―You have my Father‘s blessing.‖ That‘s the Good News.

Yours in Christ‘s service,

FROM THE REGISTERS

Baptism

26.04.09 Finlay Alastair Mitchell

Funerals

15.04.09 Margaret Blyth

16.04.09 Geoffrey Walter Slee

17.04.09 Simon Henniker Ingall

25.06.09 Jessie Johnstone Thomson

“Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord”

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND by LOGAN PEARSALL SMITH (1865-1946) I have my Anglican moments; and as I sat there that Sunday afternoon, in the eighteenth- century interior of the London Church, and listened to the unexpressive voices chanting the correct service, I felt a comfortable assurance that we were in no danger of being be- trayed into any unseemly manifestations of religious fervour. We had not gathered to- gether at that performance to abase ourselves obsequiously, with furious hosannas be- fore any dark Creator of an untamed Universe, no Deity of freaks and miracles and sinis- ter hocus-pocus; but to pay our duty to a highly respected Anglican First Cause – distin- guished, undemonstrative, gentlemanly – whom, without loss of self-respect, we could decorously praise. Submitted by Ronnie MacKenzie

Ellie Stevens writes: “Grace was born in 1998 and she is the same age as me. She lives in Keembe, Zambia. My Aunt Carron sponsors her through World Vision. Since Christmas 2004 I have been writing to her twice a year. Grace has a completely different life to me. She does not go to school in the same way that I do. Grace has to fetch the water for her family every day. Hopefully over the next ten years, Grace and her family will enjoy better food, better health and an education through the World Vision project.

“When we were asked to write a poem at school, I chose to write one about Grace. It‟s called „In ma World‟.”

IN MA WORLD In ma world all the lassies are bonnie, In my world all the dugs hae massive lugs, In ma world there‘s a wee bit o‘ a loch, In ma world there‘ll be tatties and nah neeps, In ma world the boys won‘t hit me with a fitba, In ma world ah will hae a pet moose! Ma world is fine just now.

In her world her family will nae starve, In her world she will nae hae tae work, In her world she can gae back tae school, In her world she will hae time tae play, In her world she will hae clean, fresh water, In her world her mother will be happy, Her world will need tae change.

By Ellie Stevens, P6, Castle Douglas Primary

MOTHERS' UNION REVIEW

Our year ended with a lovely garden party at the Rectory, after a service of enrolment, and for once we were blessed by beautiful weather for the occasion. Our numbers are such now that it is well-nigh impossible to arrange transport for everyone with the few cars at our disposal, so only a few can manage to travel to other events.

However, some of us did visit St John's, Dumfries, to meet Rosemary Kempsell, the World-Wide President of MU on the 21st May, and one car made it to Lenzie, thanks to our Rector, on the 23rd May for the Festival Service at which Rosemary addressed the congregation. Idris was also present, probably one of his last appearances before giving up as Primus. On the same day, Dr Edith Stobie resigned from her post as Diocesan President and we were introduced to Hilary Moran, who will take up office from Sheila Redwood, as Provincial President, in January.

At home, on 24th March, we hosted a ―Lady Day‖ service and luncheon to which several representatives of local organisations were invited.

The last three talks of the season have been particularly interesting and varied: firstly David's on "The Cross", then Mrs Pauline Wilson from New Abbey on "The pleasures and perils of opening your garden to the public" - highly amusing - and, finally, Mrs Pat Duncan's talk on "The Mercy Ships".

But this year has been mixed with sadness. We were all very upset over the loss of one of our most treasured members, namely Jessie Thomson. She showed such courage and determination throughout her long illness and various treatments, but lost the battle nevertheless. She will be greatly missed for her many good qualities which she had in abundance - her generosity of spirit, her readiness to help whenever it was required, her lively sense of humour, which never deserted her and her empathy with others. Even when she was very ill, she was more concerned for the suffering of those around her than she was for her own. Many people hadn't known until the funeral service that she and her husband had been employed as housekeeper and chauffeur to the Archbishop of Canterbury before retiring to Castle Doug- las. We shall miss her beautiful floral arrangements, another of her many talents. She is the perfect role model for every MU member and is without doubt a very hard act to follow. Jessie Lockhart

ST NINIAN’S MEN’S GROUP The Group suffered the loss of its much-loved founder, Aidan Colman in March. He will be greatly missed.

The Group organised the Mothering Sunday Ladies‘ Lunch, which was held in our own Gordon Memorial Hall this year for the first time. Instead of the usual 32 or thereabouts, we had numbers in the high forties, including two couples from another church. The catering was by Brian Haining, of The Scottish Pantry fame, and we all enjoyed three courses served buffet style. David Steward presided and kindly supplied the free wine. Everyone agreed it was a great success and we will do the same thing next year. Harry Piper

Catching up a bit, our next dinner was on 8th June when Bishop John gave us a most amusing talk on some of the more light hearted moments in his life as a Bishop plus a short résumé on matters Episcopal. Our numbers were slightly down due to holidays and those on the ‗sick list‘. Ah well you can‘t win them all.

Monday 28th September is set for our next dinner (please note the change of date) at 6.30 for 7.00 in the hall. David Steward

This poem by Pushkin, translated by Maurice Baring, is based upon the passage in Isaiah Ch.6 vv 1-8, which was the first reading on Trinity Sunday and was submitted by Penelope Bain:

THE PROPHET With fainting soul athirst for Grace, I wandered in a desert place, And at the crossing of the ways I saw the sixfold Seraph blaze; He touched mine eyes with fingers light As sleep that cometh in the night: And like a frighted eagle‘s eyes, They opened wide with prophesies. He touched mine ears, and they were drowned With tumult and a roaring sound: I heard convulsion in the sky, And flights of angel hosts on high, And beasts that move beneath the sea, And the sap creeping in the tree, And bending to my mouth he wrung From out of it my sinful tongue, And all its lies and idle rust, And ‘twixt my lips a-perishing A subtle serpent‘s forked sting With right hand wet with blood he thrust. And with his sword my breast he cleft, My quaking heart thereout he reft, And in the yawning of my breast A coal of living fire he pressed. Then in the desert I lay dead, And God called unto me and said: ―Arise and let My voice be heard, Charged with My Will go forth and span The land and sea, and let My Word Lay waste with fire the heart of man.‖

CHRISTIAN AID This year we changed our format by holding the café cum bric-a-brac event for three days rather than the normal five. Your response and that of the community was terrific, particularly on the Saturday when a special effort was made to involve children and their families which, together with the street and house-to-house collections and the guitar concert in the Kirk, enabled the committee to send off a cheque for £5,504 to Christian Aid in Glasgow.

Our efforts are not confined just to Christian Aid Week but continue throughout the year, which to date amounts to £7,200, and we hope to add more with our special Quiz Night, to be held at the Hall in September on a date to be announced soon. Thank you all very much for your continued support. David Steward

ABBA’S REST ORPHANS Thank you to all friends who continue to support our three sponsored children in Malawi: Dorine, Humfury and Zione. We receive newsletters and personal letters from their managers on their care and advances in education, and we are pleased we can help them a little. My thanks also to Jenny Armstrong for her donation of a percentage of her sales from cards and poems, which is a great asset to our funds.

Here are some quotes from replies to our letters to them: Zione (6½): ―I am really thank you for thinking about me and love me very much as my real mother. I hope the cows they are providing you enough fresh milk and meat isn‘t it? It is very funny to me to hear from you that birds come into your garden to sing songs for you.‖

Humfury (10): ―Thank you so much for your postcard with attached your photo what a beautiful face you are looking? You say you are a granny but to me you are looking like a thirty-one years old and my mother, not my grandmother.‖ (I like that!) ―I am a popular boy in a football pitch. Some people do give me a nick name called Michael Owen.‖

Dorine (15), who has Aids: ―I am well fed and looked after with Peter and Kirsi, and other kind people, more especially the manager who stays with us during the night at the cen- tre. I am doing fine in both life and education. Since Dec 08 up to now I am feeling very strong and I am in Std 5 and if there is nothing wrong with my body I will pass the exams and jump into another class. I always hug you because of your support you have all given to me and God should be respected. My medication is helping me so much. God bless you all.‖

With love from Malawi, Zione, Humfury and Dorine.

My quote: When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, “Yes, this is how I ought to feel.” Jenny Spence

Jessie Lockhart writes: I should like to share the following story with those who were not present to witness the following little incident:

I was in church on Easter Saturday, helping to adorn the church for the Easter Sunday service, when I noticed that David (Rector) was engaged in conversation with a young family: a mother and father and two teenage children. After some time, David revealed to us that they were Polish. They had come to church in the hope of finding a priest to bless the contents of a little basket which was held by the father. In this basket were four shelled hard-boiled eggs, four slices of meat carefully rolled, four pieces of bread and a few sprigs of herbs, all arranged with loving care. They had explained to David that in Poland it is the custom, on the day before Easter Sunday, to fast and to bring this food to the priest to be blessed, after which they share it for breakfast.

Well, David was not going to disappoint these people to whom this ceremony meant so much, so he asked if we would take a break and join in a little ceremony such as their own priest would have conducted. We were all very happy to participate in this simple, but very touching, ceremony knowing that it was giving joy to this family. I really think that we drew as much from it as they. David had even provided candles for the table and as usual, rose to the occasion admirably. You would have thought that it had all been planned! I think we were all very impressed by their devotion and by David‘s kindly response.

JAMES CLERK MAXWELL Having written (with Leslie Scarborough) about a famous Cumbrian chemist John Dalton, in Issue No. 31, it seemed that a piece about a Scottish scientist would now be appropriate. I refer to James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879), who was a Galloway man. He is arguably the most eminent theoretical physicist the world has ever known! The odd thing is that (at least in my experience) very few Scots have heard of him and fewer know anything of his towering achievements. Today‘s Scots school leavers almost certainly will not have been taught about the man. Einstein (who is well recognised) wrote that he could not have proposed his own theories without Maxwell‘s pioneering work.

But James Clerk Maxwell is not entirely forgotten in . He is commemorated by a plaque on the boundary wall of Parton Kirk, unveiled in June 1989 (100 years after his death). This was the culmination of much effort by the late Rev A Mackay (who served as Minister of the Parish of Corsock and Kirkpatrick Durham and also as Chairman of the local Community Council). The Reverend was assisted by Sam Callander who, inciden- tally, has arranged exhibitions of Maxwell‘s work in Parton Village Hall, and published a pamphlet on the man. Also, Basil Mahon has compiled a very full account of Maxwell‘s life and work in his book, ―The Man who Changed Everything‖ (Wiley, ISBN 0-470-86171- 1). Then, last November, a fine seated statue of Maxwell was erected in Edinburgh, so perhaps his fame will spread in Scotland, as it should.

James, son of an Edinburgh lawyer, was brought up on the family estate of Glenlair, near Corsock. As a young lad he loved to walk out with his father, constantly asking questions. In due course he was sent to Edinburgh Academy where he made excellent progress although, so often in deep thought, his schoolmates called him ‗Dafty‘. He went on to Edinburgh University in 1847, then entered Cambridge (Trinity College) for the Mathematical Tripos, becoming second Wrangler and a Smith‘s Prizeman, Glenlair near Corsock and at 24 gained a Fellowship. He was then appointed Professor of Natural Philosophy at Marishal College, Aberdeen and later at King‘s College, London. A final appointment in 1871 was to the Chair of Experimental Physics in the University of Cambridge, where he designed and furnished the Cavendish Laboratory, a magnificent endowment by the Duke of Devonshire. This was five years before Maxwell died. The Cavendish has subse- quently achieved unrivalled fame. Maxwell‘s researches include colour as perceived by the eye, colour photography, Saturn‘s rings, dynamics of gases, theory of heat (in which Maxwell‘s Demon was envisaged, whose antics proved that perpetual motion was impossible), and electro- magnetic fields. The last paved the way for all the modern uses of radiation, including radio and television communications, mobile phones, X-rays, and radar, to mention a few. He did not invent these things but, by finding the nature of electromagnetic radiation, made it possible for others to develop the various uses. His equations, in their context, rank with Newton‘s Laws for motion.

In London at the Royal Institution, Faraday found out essential properties of electricity and magnetism by inspired practical work. Maxwell thought deeply about the physical results and eventually came up with explanations in terms of mathematical equations, referred to by others as the ‗Beautiful Equations‘:-

a. div E = 0 b. div H = 0 c. curl E = -(1/c)δH/δt curl H = (1/c)δE/δt where E and H are the electric and magnetic fields at a point in space: both are vectors, have magnitude and direction. They oscillate at right angles and when one field is zero so is the other: c is the speed of light and div and curl are operators as are the differentials δH/δt and δE/δt which give the time variation of H and E.

I do not pretend to know how to work out such equations. My intention in quoting them is to show as vividly as I can why, perhaps, James Clerk Maxwell is not widely appreciated. His equations, however, lead to an important and extraordinary conclusion, which is maybe easier to understand when put into words. It is that light and other electromagnetic radiation consists only of inextricably linked oscillating electric and magnetic fields propa- gated with the speed of light. To me its nature is a true miracle – one present with us all the time and not a story from the past. How can one not believe in God? John Elvidge

The following is an extract from the July/August edition of the „DIOCESAN NEWS‟ about our new Primus. You can find more information on the website of the Scot- tish Episcopal Church: www.scotland.anglican.org On 13 June, the Rt Revd David Chillingworth was elected Primus of the Scottish Episco- pal Church. Bishop David has been Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane since 2005 and succeeds the Rt Revd Dr , Bishop of Glasgow and Galloway, who stepped down as Primus on 12 June following his announcement that he was retiring from the office of diocesan bishop.

Bishop David is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio Scotland‘s ‗Thought for the Day‘. He writes a blog at www.bishopdavid.net. Born in 1951, Bishop David grew up in Northern . He studied at Trinity College, , and Oriel College, Oxford. His training for ministry was at Ripon College, Cuddesdon, in the Church of England. He was ordained in Belfast in 1976, and much of his working life has been spent at the heart of the conflict. He also served as Youth Officer from 1979 to 1983. Be- fore moving to Scotland in 2005, he was Rector of Church in and Archdeacon of Dromore.

EPISCOPAL ELECTION PROCEDURE Bishop Idris having now retired, the process for electing his successor, governed by Canon 4, can now begin. The effect of this long and very detailed Canon may be summarised as follows:

Within 21 days of the Diocese becoming vacant, the Primus, the Most Revd David Chillingworth, will issue a Mandate for the election to the Dean, Dr . This inaugurates the electoral procedures, which are overseen by a Preparatory Committee, consisting of the Primus (Convener), one other Bishop, five provincially-elected members, and four diocesan-elected members. The preparatory Committee must meet within 21 days of the issue of the Mandate.

Nominations of potential candidates, who may be any Priest in good standing within the Anglican Communion, are sent to the Preparatory Committee, which then consults, interviews and considers as necessary to produce a short-list of not more than five and not fewer than three candidates, firstly to be vetted by the College of Bishops, then to be presented to the Electoral Synod. The list of candidates must be issued within 120 days of the Mandate—around the end of November.

The Electoral Synod, which is in effect the members of Diocesan Synod, holds a preliminary meeting within 14 days of the issue of the Mandate, at which (among other things) the precise timetable is fixed. On the agreed date (not less than 30 nor more than 60 days), after the list of candidates is declared the Synod meets with the candidates. Between 5 and 15 days later, the Electoral meeting of Synod takes place, at which a series of votes, by a complex preferential-voting system, usually results in an election. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of both lay and clerical votes. The successful candidate becomes Bishop-elect, and must be consecrated Bishop within 100 days of election.

The arithmetic is imprecise but, at this stage, it seems likely that the election will not be until January 2010, with the consecration (I can‘t get used to calling it ―‖) probably around Easter. The procedure is complicated, fraught with potential problems, and liable to be voided for a variety of reasons, resulting in a re-run. Please pray for everyone involved—not least for any potential candidates, who will be put through a very public mangle. David Bayne

AND NOW FOR SOME LIGHT RELIEF, sent in by Marjorie Fergusson Did you know that we old folk are worth a fortune? We have silver in our hair, gold in our teeth, stones in our kidneys, lead in our feet and gas in our stomachs.

I have become older since I saw you last, and a few changes have come into my life. Frankly, I have become a frivolous old woman! I am seeing six gentlemen every day!

As soon as I wake up Will Power helps me out of bed, then I go to see Jimmy Riddle and then it‘s time for breakfast with Mr Kellogg, followed closely by the refreshing company of Mr Tetley or my other friend – I only know his initials – P.G. Then comes someone I don‘t like at all – Arthur Itis – he knows he‘s not welcome, but he insists on being here and, what is more, he stays for the rest of the day. Even then he does not like to stay in one place, so he takes me from joint to joint.

After such a hectic day I am glad to get to bed (and with Johnny Walker too!) What a hec- tic life. Oh yes, I am now flirting with Al Zheimer!

The vicar came to call the other day and said that at my age I should be thinking of the hereafter. So I told him I did all the time. For no matter where I am – the bedroom, the kitchen, the sitting room or the garden, I ask myself, ‗Now what am I here after?‘

Well, I‘ll close now and I hope that Will Power is your constant companion too, but do make sure that his friend Emma Royd does not creep up on you from behind! And watch out for the crafty one – Gerry Atric!

Bye for now. Anna Rexic.

Submitted by Marjorie Fergusson